diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0c3c1cd9..66dc4b83 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ Until May 2022 (inclusive) no changelog was kept. We might try to reconstruct it
 
 ### Changed
 
+
+* python: Require at least 3.12.12 in prefer_system_check
 * defaults-actstracking: Removed all overrides unrelated to ACTS or C++20.
 * ACTS: Disabled all GEANT4 build options required for examples.
 
diff --git a/python.sh b/python.sh
index 2fe18f34..06168778 100644
--- a/python.sh
+++ b/python.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ env:
 prefer_system: "(?!slc5|ubuntu)"
 prefer_system_check: |
     python3 -c 'from sys import version_info; print(f"alibuild_system_replace: python{version_info.major}.{version_info.minor}")'
-    python3 -c 'import sys; import sqlite3; sys.exit(1 if sys.version_info < (3, 9) or sys.version_info > (3, 15) else 0)' && python3 -m pip --help > /dev/null && printf '#include "pyconfig.h"' | cc -c $(python3-config --includes) -xc -o /dev/null -; if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then printf "Python, the Python development packages, and pip must be installed on your system.\nUsually those packages are called python, python-devel (or python-dev) and python-pip.\n"; exit 1; fi
+    python3 -c 'import sys; import sqlite3; sys.exit(1 if sys.version_info < (3, 12, 12) or sys.version_info > (3, 15) else 0)' && python3 -m pip --help > /dev/null && printf '#include "pyconfig.h"' | cc -c $(python3-config --includes) -xc -o /dev/null -; if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then printf "Python, the Python development packages, and pip must be installed on your system.\nUsually those packages are called python, python-devel (or python-dev) and python-pip.\n"; exit 1; fi
 prefer_system_replacement_specs:
   "python-brew3.*":
     version: "%(key)s"